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Did you see the trip planner on the front page of the WMATA website? It is a much easier way to get exact directions than looking at the bus route map.

Actually even easier than the trip planner is just plain old Google Maps (maps.google.com), which can give you exact step-by-step public transit directions in two seconds just by typing in where you are starting and where you are going.

In this case I think the Metro from McPherson Square to Smithsonian is a better option than the bus. The reason is that these 52 buses appear to only come every 20 minutes, so if you don't time it right, you waste a lot of time standing around waiting for the next one. The Metro is much more frequent and reliable. 20 minutes is actually fairly frequent compared to a lot of bus lines in the city. Many only come every 45 minutes or an hour or more.

Or you could just make this really easy and hail a cab that will drive you the two miles in half or less of the time that it would take to use the Metro.

Honestly, with few exceptions it's just not worth it for a tourist to mess with the bus system. For it not to be very inconvenient you have to study the schedule and really time it right, which starts to turn your vacation more into work than fun. If buses were the only way to go it might be worth it, but Metro, walking and cabs are almost always alternatives.

And I forgot the simplest option of them all: if you're at the southern side of the White House grounds, it is only a little over a mile walk to the Holocaust Museum. That doesn't take a normal able-bodied person much longer to walk than it would be to take the Metro.

I understand some people might not be able to do that walk, but just throwing it out as the cheapest and simplest option.

And again, Google Maps can give you these directions. It can show you the exact time and distance of the best walking route.

Only the #52 bus gets you there. The 54 turn left to go down Pennsylvania avenue and not 14th all the way. As you can see the 52 bus runs somewhat infrequently, though the combined 52/53/54 has frequent service (this is the weakest thing about Metro buses, different branches of the same basic route (these being the 50s) don't run all that often).

Downtown bus maps are tough because downtown is a relatively small area and so many lines converge there it's tough to read and separate what's what, especially if you're not familiar with the area. Graphic designers who come up with simple, readable and efficient bus maps are rightly treasured.

But yes, the extra expense for a cab (not much of that anyway) would probably make up for the frustration in waiting for the bus.

And of course, it's a lovely walk between the two areas considering you pass directly by the Washington Monument.